Adversity

“And more importantly, I wouldn't be the person I am today, I wouldn't be where I am now …if it wasn't for the accident.” - Rick Allen (Def Leppard)

By now, you’ve all heard Rick Allen’s story. As the Drummer for the immensely successful Def Leppard, Rick seemed to have everything going for him in 1984. Touring the world promoting their album Pyromania, it seemed there was nothing to stop them from becoming the biggest band in Rock and Roll. At 21 years old, Rick was experiencing success that few on the planet have ever achieved in a lifetime. What could possibly go wrong?

On December 31^st, 1984, the “wrong” came in the form of an Alfa Romeo roadster that had cut Rick off while he was driving is Corvette down a stretch of country road in Sheffield, England. With Road-Rage getting the better of him, he decided to pass his antagonist by putting the Corvette’s capacity to the test. In a matter of seconds the Corvette had not only passed the Alfa Romeo, but it had also spun out of control due to a dangerous curve in the road. His car had sailed over a stone embankment and wound up in a field, upside down and totaled. Rick was thrown from the vehicle and left standing in the filed in a daze, separated from his left arm.

Just like that, Rick would never be the same again.

Fast forward 27 years and Def Leppard are still recording albums and touring to sell out concert venues.

And Rick is still behind his Drum Kit, making as much noise as ever.

Affectionately known as the Thunder God to his band mates and fans, Rick has become one of the finest examples of overcoming adversity that there ever was.

Now you and I might not have to go through such an extreme event as Rick but would you agree with me when I say we will all have to deal with adversity at some point in our lives?

I mean let’s face it, this is life. And life can suck sometimes.

But regardless of its “Suck Factor”, life goes on. It then falls on us as to how life will go on. Do we lie down and let it run us over or do we get up and go toe to toe with it?

It’s a no-brainer folks. You gotta get up. There’s too much at stake.

Now am I going soft here by not addressing the fact that Rick’s decision to be reckless is what cost him his arm? No. Ask Rick himself and I can all but guarantee that he would agree; HE screwed up. Life didn’t hand him lemons. He grabbed those lemons the second his foot hit the accelerator. But he did turn them into lemonade, and that is the point I want to support in this article.

Each and every one of us has faced, or will face difficulties. Some will be big, some will be small. Some will be our own fault, some will be pure accident; a “Wrong Place at the Wrong Time” if you will. The difficulties in life are as certain as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. The only variable will be how we choose to deal with those problems.

In facing adversity you really only have two options; Fight or Flight. For many, when problems come their way, they choose the path of least resistance and let the problems over take them. Simply put, they become the victim. They lack the ability to see beyond the trials and they turn their vision completely inward. These are the folks who would rather throw a pity party as opposed to facing their challenges. They sabotage any chance of bettering themselves by refusing take charge and do whatever it takes to overcome their setbacks.

On the flip side, there are the few that have the uncanny ability to take the crap that life can shell out and turn it to their benefit. They are the Rick Allen’s of the world with that Never Say Die attitude. They take, what would be for many, an impossible situation and then come out an even better person for having gone through it. These are the people who look back on the hell they went through and actually give thanks for it.

Now which one of these are you? Are you the victim who spends all their time feeling sorry for them self or are you the Rick Allen who goes through and comes out even better than before?

It’s one or the other folks, it’s really that simple.

Am I diminishing the severity of your trials? No way. Am I making light of them? Absolutely not. All I hope to do here is to get you to think less of the actual circumstance and focus more on your desired outcome. Once you catch a glimpse of the outcome you want, you can then take your mind off of yourself and put it to use in more productive ways rather than adding to your list of “Why Life Is Unfair.”
Adversities are going to come. Sooner or later, life’s fiery furnace seeks to burn us up and leave us for a pile of ashes. But for those of us who withstand the heat, we will come out as fine gold; purified and more valuable than before.